A new poll by the Pew Research Center - you should know them, they're like the NPR of polls and stuff - finds that 80 percent of American kids between ages 12 and 17 have a game console, and more than half have a handheld.

The findings were reported Wednesday by the center's Internet & American Life Project. Although boys were more likely to own or have access to a console in their home (89 percent) girls also clocked in at 70 percent ownership.

DSes and PSPs garnered a majority of teen ownership but saw their greatest strength among younger demographics. Pew said 66 percent of kids 12 and 13 had a handheld, compared to 44 percent of those 14 to 17. Broken down by gender, handheld ownership was 56 percent boys, 47 percent girls.

The survey was based on telephone interviews with 800 teens from June to September 2009.

http://kotaku.com/5463760/poll-80-pe...e-game-console ...

While at work, reader Mike got an email on his telephone from Xbox confirming his purchase of a LIVE Gold subscription. But Mike is an Xbox LIVE Silver Member. And he was out forty bucks.

"I called home, and jokingly told my wife that she had some explaining to do," says Mike. "She didn't know what I was talking about, so I asked if there were any purchases she might have made that I should know about." Mike thought maybe she bought it for him as a surprise. His wife, however, had no idea what he was talking about.

She did mention that their three year-old son had walked up to her with a powered-on Xbox controller asking her to play the "cars game" — Forza 3, that is.

"So it seems that my son turned on the Xbox with the controller, tapped the A button 3 times, and spent forty bucks," says Mike. "This is completely understandable since he knows how to turn it on, and the green button is about the only one he ever pushes when pretending to play games."

Microsoft, to its credit, was quick to offer a refund. And in order to avoid any future problems, Mike says he removed his credit card from his Xbox LIVE account.

"But I think it's pretty stupid that it's this simple for a 3 year old to make such a large purchase," says Mike. "Why on earth does my Xbox default to that upgrade offer anyway?"

Money, Mike, to make money.

http://kotaku.com/5463942/what-happe...-a%252Ba%252Ba ...

It was a big, big week for the role-playing game in Japan, with the release—and immediate success—of Dragon Quest VI for the Nintendo DS and, to a lesser degree, Sega's latest effort End of Eternity.

Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi debuted to more than 900,000 copies sold in Japan this week, according to Media Create. Its nearest competitor was Sega's aforementioned futuristic RPG End of Eternity (known as Resonance of Fate around these parts) with more than 145,000 copies sold across the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku also repped the RPG genre, debuting in the top ten with 82,000 units sold.

The PlayStation 3 was thrice represented in Media Create's top ten by Zipper Interactive's MAG, adding another 19,000 players to the war.

01. Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi (DS) - 906,000 / NEW
02. End of Eternity (PS3) - 118,000 / NEW
03. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 84,000 / 3,201,000
04. Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku (PS3) - 82,000 / NEW
05. Tomodachi Collection (DS) - 45,000 / 2,742,000
06. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - 33,000 / 1,583,000
07. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) - 30,000 / 713,000
08. End of Eternity (Xbox 360) - 27,000 / NEW
09. Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP) - 24,000 / 118,000
10. MAG (PS3) - 19,000 / NEW

11. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
12. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (the Best)
13. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces (PSP)
14. Inazuma Eleven 2: Fire / Blizzard (DS)
15. Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver (DS)
16. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)
17. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
18. Fushigi no Dungeon Fuurai no Shiren 3 Portable (PSP)
19. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
20. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii)
21. Princess Saver! Eternal Love for My Lady (PS2)
22. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
23. Dynasty Warriors 5 Empire (PSP)
24. Lively Garden (DS)
25. 11 Eyes Crossover (PSP)
26. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)
27. Tekken 6 (PSP)
28. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
29. Momotarou Dentetsu 2010 Senkoku Ishin no Hero Daisyuugou ! No Ken (Wii)
30. PokePark Wii: Pikachu no Daibouken (Wii)

http://kotaku.com/5464418/dragon-que...ccess-in-japan ...

Since the last time we mentioned it, the MyTether app for WebOS phones has gone up in price from a requested $10 donation to $14.95, but that's still considerably cheaper than Verizon's $40 per month Mobile Hotspot plan. We're still leery about what usage/overusage could mean for your contract & bill, but a new beta version has been posted that officially supports the Pre Plus and according to the developer "makes use of the API calls behind MHS" to let it work more smoothly. Even with the Pre's openness to hackery we had some issues getting the beta installer to operate on our Windows 7 machine but once it was installed it worked as promised, giving comparable speeds to a dedicated EV-DO card on the same network. Other new features include automatic tracking of data usage and the ability to manage connected devices directly on the app. Other than some compatibility issues with WebOS updates there hasn't seemed to be any blowback from Sprint or Palm on this app so far, we'll see if Verizon has any issues with its premium priced turf being encroached upon.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/03/w...tspots-to-ver/ ...

Don't shy away at the sound of that "S" word. I've got some reassuring news for anyone who's ever thrown their N95 across the room in horror. Starting today, Symbian^2 will be offered as a free open source download for anyone wanting to tinker with it. The details are a bit thin on the ground so far, but at least it shows Symbian is finally starting to view Android as a threat.

Once Symbian^3 is launched later this year, it won't be quite as attractive fooling around with Symbian^2 behind its back, so best to start early and get in a few months of quality time together before the jealousy sets in.

http://gizmodo.com/5463970/symbian-g...rce-from-today ...

There are two major camps for internet radio: Pandora and Slacker. Team Pandora's been setup on webOS for a while, but now Slacker fans can get theirs on every webOS phone.

Slacker Radio Announces Mobile App for Palm webOS Smartphones
Slacker Radio for the Palm webOS Offers Free Personalized Radio Stations and New Music Discovery On-the-Go
SAN DIEGO, CA – February 4, 2010 – Slacker, Inc. today announced the Slacker Radio Mobile app for Palm Pre, Palm Pre Plus, Palm Pixi and Palm Pixi Plus smartphones. Music lovers in the United States and Canada can now listen to their favorite Slacker Radio stations on their Palm webOS smartphone. The free Slacker Radio app is now available at the Palm webOS App Catalog or by visiting http://www.slacker.com from a Palm webOS smartphone*.
Palm webOS smartphone owners now have the ability to enjoy the Slacker music experience, including custom music stations based on their favorite artist or mix of artists, over 120 expert-programmed Slacker genre, seasonal and spotlight stations and over 10,000 artist stations. Additional application features include an intuitive interface and the ability for listeners to personalize each station based on their music tastes.
With a music catalog that is nearly four times the leading competitor, Slacker gives listeners the ultimate music discovery resource by providing artist biographi es, album reviews and "peek ahead" artist and album previews. In addition to marking songs as favorites, listeners can also ban songs and artists to create perfect custom radio stations on their phones.
"Slacker offers music lovers an effortless way to discover and enjoy music on their computers, smartphones or through their home entertainment devices," said Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker. "Our free app for Palm webOS enables music fans play their favorite Slacker Radio stations wherever they go."
Slacker Radio for Palm webOS:
- Music library featuring millions of songs
- High-quality stereo playback from any available wireless connection
- Create custom artist stations based on artists or songs
- Over 120 professionally programmed and customizable genre stations
- View artist biographies and photos
- View album art and read reviews
- "Peek Ahead" artist and album preview
- Rate songs as favorites
- Ban songs and artists from stations
Pricing and Availability
The free Slacker Radio application is available through the Palm webOS mobile platform App Catalog or by visiting http://www.slacker.com from the webOS browser.
About Slacker, Inc.
Slacker is the world's first Personal Radio company offering "Your Radio Everywhere." Slacker enables music lovers to play highly personalized music online at the Slacker web site or on the go with Slacker Personal Radio players and mobile phones. Slacker mobile applications are currently available for Palm webOS, Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. For more information visit http://www.Slacker.com/everywhere.
For regular Slacker updates follow us at http://www.Twitter.com/SlackerRadio, become a Fan on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/SlackerRadio or visit http://www.Slacker.com.

http://gizmodo.com/5464273/slacker-r...os-its-out-now ...

Online multiplayer demos for Aliens vs. Predator and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 await you on the PlayStation Store today. They're both free, so there's no reason not to give these two newcomers a spin.

There's also a free sampler for brilliantly inventive PSP game Half-Minute Hero. Do try it, our review will explain why.

Today's other big arrival is Final Fantasy VIII, which is meant for PSP but can also be played on PS3. And this costs eight pounds, conveniently.

The rest you'll find below.

PS3 Demos

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer (free)
Aliens vs. Predator multiplayer (free)
PS3 Game Content

Topatoi: Episode 2 (£4.79/€5.99)
Dragon Ball: Revived Warriors Pack (free)
EyePet: Lucky Dip Pack 11 (free)
InFamous: - Gigawatt Blades Pack (free)
Guitar Hero 5: 30 Seconds to Mars track pack ("Attack", "From Yesterday", "Kings and Queens") - £4.39/€5.49 (£1.59/€1.99 each)
Rock Band: Going Country Pack 03 ("Gone (Montgomery Gentry)", "Me and My Gang", "On the Road Again", "She Things My Tractor's Sexy", "Suds in the Bucket", "Swing") - £4.99/€7.99
Age of Booty: Map pack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (free)
Dante's Inferno: Free Soul Pack (free)
Dante's Inferno: Small Soul Pack (£0.79/€0.99)
Dante's Inferno: Medium Soul Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
Dante's Inferno: Large Soul Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
PSP Demo

Half-Minute Hero (UK only)
PSP Games

Final Fantasy VIII (£7.99/€9.99)
Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks (£23.99/€29.99)
Astro Boy: The Video Game (£23.99/€29.99)
PSP Minis

Spaceball: Revolution (3.99/€4.99)
LittleBigPlanet: Savannah Costumes, The Gardens Costume Pack (free)
LittleBigPlanet: Savannah Theme Pack (£2.39/€2.99)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bb...sn-store-today ...

Online multiplayer demos for Aliens vs. Predator and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 await you on the PlayStation Store today. They're both free, so there's no reason not to give these two newcomers a spin.

There's also a free sampler for brilliantly inventive PSP game Half-Minute Hero. Do try it, our review will explain why.

Today's other big arrival is Final Fantasy VIII, which is meant for PSP but can also be played on PS3. And this costs eight pounds, conveniently.

The rest you'll find below.

PS3 Demos

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer (free)
Aliens vs. Predator multiplayer (free)
PS3 Game Content

Topatoi: Episode 2 (£4.79/€5.99)
Dragon Ball: Revived Warriors Pack (free)
EyePet: Lucky Dip Pack 11 (free)
InFamous: - Gigawatt Blades Pack (free)
Guitar Hero 5: 30 Seconds to Mars track pack ("Attack", "From Yesterday", "Kings and Queens") - £4.39/€5.49 (£1.59/€1.99 each)
Rock Band: Going Country Pack 03 ("Gone (Montgomery Gentry)", "Me and My Gang", "On the Road Again", "She Things My Tractor's Sexy", "Suds in the Bucket", "Swing") - £4.99/€7.99
Age of Booty: Map pack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (free)
Dante's Inferno: Free Soul Pack (free)
Dante's Inferno: Small Soul Pack (£0.79/€0.99)
Dante's Inferno: Medium Soul Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
Dante's Inferno: Large Soul Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
PSP Demo

Half-Minute Hero (UK only)
PSP Games

Final Fantasy VIII (£7.99/€9.99)
Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks (£23.99/€29.99)
Astro Boy: The Video Game (£23.99/€29.99)
PSP Minis

Spaceball: Revolution (3.99/€4.99)
LittleBigPlanet: Savannah Costumes, The Gardens Costume Pack (free)
LittleBigPlanet: Savannah Theme Pack (£2.39/€2.99)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bb...sn-store-today ...

Warner Bros. has revealed a new Wii game called Vacation Isle: Beach Party.

Due June, this is the next instalment in the Game Party series, a family-friendly affair.

On Vacation Isle you'll be able to pursue all manner of tropical beach sports. There's surfing, wakeboarding, even dancing. Perform well and you'll earn Sand Dollars to spend on avatar customisation.

Up-to four people can play, and the Wii's balance board can be used to spruce up the board-based activities.

Two years ago, Game Party scored an incredible 1/10 on Eurogamer. We didn't bother with the series after that. Still, original-and-now-defunct publisher Midway revealed that the series had sold 3m copies as of February 2009. Apparently scores are not everything.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/va...-party-for-wii ...